Battle of Ria de Cancha

The Battle of Ria de Cancha (23 May 1810) was a major battle of the Peninsular War that took place in a Galician Ria in northern Spain. The French Armee d'Galice (23,000 troops), under the command of Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult, was dispatched to drive the Spanish army of Francisco Castanos (18,500 troops) from a ria in the countryside of the north, but the Spanish scored a victory that decimated the French army.

Background
Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult was in command of the French Army of Galicia with 23,000 French troops in 1810, having defeated the British at Corunna a year earlier. The British had yet to sent reinforcements to the Spanish resistance, who included generals Joaquin Blake y Joyes, Gregorio Garcia de la Cuesta, Manuel Alberto Freire, Inigo Mendoza, Jose Palafox y Melzi, Francisco de Anchia, and Francisco Castanos. The Spanish were mainly pushed into Sevilla, Pais Vasco, Valencia, and the center of the nation, but they put up fights against the French with Portuguese and British aid.

In May 1810 the French marshal Soult was alerted to the presence of a growing army of Spanish troops in Galicia based in Santiago de Compostela. Soult was promptly dispatched to capture Santiago and drive the Spanish regular/irregular army back into central Spain to remove the threat to the French rear line.

Battle
The Spanish, encamped in a Galician Ria, were some 18,500 troops under Francisco Castanos, the Lord High Constable of Spain and a talented general. The French army had the clear ground, so the Spanish deployed their Voluntarios de la Coruna, Cazadores Voluntarios de Madrid, Husares de Valpenas, Lanceros de Castilla, and Cazadores de Catalunia in two thickets of wood to thin out the French lines before they did battle.

Soult's army advanced down the main roads, and the Spanish charged the French center. The French were disorganized, but Soult rallied his men with his inspirational ability and the French were reinvigorated, fighting off the Spanish. Realizing the lack of morale for his troops, Castanos withdrew his cavalry, but they were already routing by the time they started to withdraw. The French marched on to the main Spanish force, but the three guerrilla regiments of the Spanish Army ambushed the French en route. The main Spanish army delivered shattering volleys as the French marched, and the French suffered heavy losses. On the right flank, the French launched a bayonet charge against the Spanish foot artillery, but the Spanish sent line infantry regiments to assist their cannon crews. When the French were routed, the rest of the French army was demoralized and withdrew. 7,930 Spanish and 19,760 French troops were killed, wounded, missing, or deserted.

Aftermath
The French army was destroyed, forcing Soult to call on more reinforcements from Pays d'Oc, Midi-Pyrenees, and Provence. His advance was delayed, but Castanos had to withdraw to gather more troops to continue the war. In this respect, the battle was indecisive, as the French succeeded in their goal in driving the Spanish back to the front line, but they lost the field and had to await more reinforcements.